A Soldier's Heart
by PrimaBallerina2008
Summary: Army Lieutenant Chris Brown's heart and willpower are tested when he is forced to deal with his new job at a juvie Army camp and his newest trainee: troubled teen Anastacia Flores.
1. Chapter 1

"Now you just relax and get comfortable so Mommy can take good care of you…" a young vixen cooed to a dark figure in the shadows.

In a dingy, broke-down roach motel, 50 miles from the heart of Charlotte, North Carolina, 17-year-old Anastacia Flores seductively walked towards the figure, who revealed himself in the blinking neon lights of the city as a red-necked middle-aged businessman.

From the hungry look in his eyes, it seemed like there was nothing else he'd rather do…than spend one night with one of the sexiest and most desirable prostitutes in Lincoln County.

There was no doubt that her sexiness was getting her far in the game.

Her Spanish and Russian ancestry did wonders for her looks. Her long dark hair created a unique contrast against her smooth olive skin, and her forest green eyes made her even the more exotic. Her body, although small and somewhat lanky, was accentuated by full C-cup breasts, which made most men disregard her skinny figure.

The desperate man made his way over to sit on the edge of the bed.

Instantly, Ana straddled the man's lap, planting soft kisses from the top of his bald head to his nose, using a little of the 'girlfriend' type of foreplay to get him in the mood.

And from the feel of the hardness in between his legs, it was working. The man's hands hungrily groped all over her small, vulnerable body. Smoothly, his hands caressed her shoulders and her arms…

And then suddenly, his hands firmly gripped her wrists. She wasn't even given a chance to struggle out of his grasp. In a quick maneuver, he had both of the girl's arms tied behind her back. Then, from his back pocket, he pulled out a pair of handcuffs.

This man was being anything but kinky.

He was an undercover cop.

She was busted.

"Anastacia Flores. We've been lookin' fer you for months. I'm puttin' you under arrest for prostitution. You have the right to remain silent…"

The young girl could do nothing but helplessly lie there, facedown—on the bed she was hoping to have sex on—with her hands cuffed behind her back.

She had been caught again. But this wasn't the first time she had a run-in with the law. Five months before, a warrant was sent out for her arrest for trafficking drugs to and from Charlotte.

And now that five-o finally caught up with her ass, she was in for some big trouble.

If she could, Ana would bury her face in her hands. There was no way she could escape. A small tear slipped from her eyes as she heard that dirty cop brag to his co-worker about how he got to feel up on a girl _and _catch a dirty whore all on the same night.

When she heard him call her a dirty whore, her tears came down even harder, like the rain. There was no doubt that she was at her all-time low.

But her life wasn't always like that.

Born into a life of wealth and privilege, Ana was destined for a bright future. But after her parents' brutal divorce and the death of her only brother, she ran away from home, and began starting life on her own. With her pretty face and her over-grown body, Ana quickly fell into the fast lane.

Unfortunately, for her, she knew now that her life in the fast lane had come to a screeching halt.

"We the jury find the defendant guilty of Count One- underaged drug trafficking, and Count Two-child prostitution."

A devastated sob came from the pews of the courtroom. Both of her parents had finally found her, but sadly, as quickly as they had found her, they would lose her again.

When the verdict was read, it was only a matter of time before Ana predicted going straight to jail. Despite the bad-girl attitude, Ana knew she couldn't last one second in jail. After all, she was—in a way—a princess. One day without her makeup would _not_ do.

So, when it came time for her sentencing, Ana crossed her handcuffed fingers and hoped that she wouldn't get tried as an adult and sent to jail.

"Ms. Flores, do you have anything to say before I decide your sentence?"

This was her cue to put on the most heart-wrenching, tear-jerking performance of her life. And there was no way that she was going to pass this up.

"Your Honor, all I would like to say is: I've been through so much in my life, and I'm very sorry for my actions. Please have mercy," she softly said, allowing crocodile tears to streak her baby face.

Her puppy dog eyes have never failed her, and she was certain that she would at the most get off scott-free with community service.

After a few minutes, the judge came back from his quarters to deliver his sentence.

Ana stood with her court-appointed lawyers and braced herself for the sentence, sliently praying.

"Anastacia Flores, I hereby sentence you to…"

_Community service… community service…community service…_

"…one year in a maximum security reform boot camp for young teens. If you, the convictee, refuses to comply with this sentence, or does not successfully complete the program, you will be automatically sentenced to the duration of that year in prison. Maybe, then you can truly be 'very sorry' for your actions.'," the judge stated, sternly mocking her.

_**WHAT?! Either this or prison?! You gotta be kidding me!**_

She couldn't believe it, but she couldn't escape it…

She was going to boot camp, whether she liked it or not.


	2. Chapter 2

"Get down! Down! Everybody, down!"

The carnage of war covered every single part of the streets of downtown Iraq. A suicide bomb had just gone off a few seconds ago, and another was about to go off in three…two…

"_JIHA-A-A-AD!"_

_**BOOM! **_

The entrails and remains of the delusioned, but determined bomber splattered all over the once-beautiful and popular Moroccan restaurant, mixing with the dust of the desert ground and the flying rubble.

It was too late.

Just a few miles away, young Army First Lieutenant Chris Brown buried his blood-encrusted hands into his face. He had screwed up BIG time.

_Fuck_!

He knew he had failed the mission.

He was supposed to save all of those people in that building. He was given strict instructions to carry out his orders from his commanding officer to a "T," but his own rebellious mind got the best of him. Now, all of those innocent people's lives who were taken away in that building were his responsibility.

This included his rescue squad…one of the members being his best friend and second-in-command, Sergeant James Flores.

As much as he wanted to look brave in front of his troops, the lieutenant still could not hold back the few tears that made their way down his distraught face.

This was not something that could be easily forgotten or forgiven.

Lt. Brown looked back at his remaining men. Some of them looked angry; others looked just as distraught as him. There was nothing he could do or say to justify what he had just done.

He had involuntarily taken the life of hundreds of innocent lives, including the life of his best friend.

_How could I have been so stupid? I wanted to try a plan that I thought would be sure-fire…but it failed. __**I**__ failed. I put all of their lives in danger…It's all my fault…_

There was no doubt in his mind that he would be court-martialed for this and dishonorably discharged from the service.

But that was nothing compared to the pain that he felt knowing that he would have to face the grieving parents of his lost soldiers.

BANNER

It had been exactly ten months since that fateful day. As predicted, Chris was court-martialed, stripped of his rank, and sentenced to jail for five counts of involuntary manslaughter.

In the seclusion of his jail cell, nightmares of war and the failed mission continuously haunted his dreams, playing like a demented movie over and over inside of his head. During those ten months, it seemed like Chris was one step away from losing his natural mind.

That was until…

"Hey, Army Man, you gotta visitor," one of the prison guards called while he was outside "enjoying" his leisure time.

It was his former commanding officer, Colonel Terrance Masey.

At the sight of the colonel, Chris snapped straight back into Army mode.

"Sir," he addressed him, saluting respectfully before he sat down.

The general nodded, acknowledging him.

"I see you've never forgotten your bearings…even after almost a year in prison, Brown."

"Well, sir, the army's always been a big part of my life. It's gonna take more than a year for me to lose my bearings," he humbly remarked.

"…Which is only one of the reasons why the Army has decided to give you a second chance, Brown."

"Are you serious?"

"We are very serious, Brown. But be forewarned. Your newest mission will be the toughest one yet," the general stated as he slid a manila envelope marked "Classified" through the wide opening in the glass wall that separated them.

Opening the envelope, Chris' pure anticipation almost caused him to rip it wide open. Within the first few seconds of reading it, a smile came to his face.

"I got my rank back?"

"Only for the duration of the mission. It's probationary…Go on. Read further."

His eyes scanned the remaining pages of the document. He almost wanted to chuckle when he figured out his assignment…but then, he remembered how badly he screwed up.

This was his last chance. He had to succeed…no matter how ridiculous the mission.

"I won't let you down, sir," Chris said with a determined look in his eye.

"You'd better not, son. This is it. No more shots…now, let's get you out of here."

As he dressed himself back in his dress uniform, medals and all, and proudly exited the jail with the escorting officers, he had finally decided to forget his mistake as much as possible and to start anew with this mission.


	3. Chapter 3

An old, rusty puce green school bus jolted along the bumpy graveled road as it neared the juvenile base camp. It had taken almost six hours to get from Charlotte to Virginia, and everyone had grown restless from the long drive. The bus was full of about 20 rowdy and rebellious teenage girls, and it was evident that the bus driver was wishing and praying that this merciless torture would be over at any minute.

A very depressed and angry Ana looked out of the smudged window, staring blankly at the scenery as it whizzed by. She seemed ready to just spend her last few moments of alone time at the back of the bus, and catch a few Z's before arriving at the base.

But just as she was drifting off to sleep, a dark-skinned heavy-set girl with tightly woven cornrows and beady brown eyes poked her in the back of her head. Swiftly, Ana turned around to see the face of the culprit, and instantly her face turned from confused to angry.

"What the hell is your problem?"

The girl completely ignored her fury-fueled question.

"Hey, you look like one of those spoiled bitches. What the hell are you _here_ for? Taking one too many of daddy's credit cards?" she tauntingly asked, getting laughs from her audience.

Ana did not feel like being probed for answers; she had already gotten enough of that during her trial.

"None of your damn business."

By this time, the entire bus—excluding the bus driver, who inherently didn't give a damn—was instantly into the conversation.

"Ooo…you gonna take that, girl?"

"Damn…she told you…"

Of course, the instigators were jumping at the chance to initiate a fight on the bus. It had been a long ride, and they were dying to see something go down.

"Look, bitch. I don't care who you are. _No_ one talks to me like that."

"Well, guess what? That's a damn lie 'cause it looks like someone just did."

"Aw hell naw, princess. You just bought yourself an ass beating," she said, grabbing the collar of Ana's navel-bearing baby tee.

As usual, Ana's big mouth always got her into trouble. But from her days on the streets of Charlotte, she knew how to fight, so she was ready to take this girl down.

At the second that big girl was about to raise an arm to punch her, the bus violently screeched to a complete halt, causing the two girls who were defiantly standing on the bus to lose their footing and tumble down the aisle to the front of the bus.

The bus driver was quite amused as the two grumbled, cursing out the asshole.

"I told you girls not to stand while the bus was in motion," he said mid-chuckle.

Ana gave him the death-stare and headed back to her seat while the big girl lurched forward as if to punch him; he flinched, which made her feel a lot better.

Looking outside, the girls could see the base…and none of them were pleased with what they saw. The area was completely enveloped in woods, and the barracks were a far cry from the Beverly Hills Hotel. Flies, gnats, and all kinds of creepy crawlers were already climbing on the side of the bus, seeming eager to crawl onto human flesh. 

There were hills, valleys, and mountains, and it looked as if there was no sign of civilization within miles of the place. Not to mention, there were tons of girls and guys dressed in Army gear running around in perfectly straight lines. Most of the girls were already vowing to escape the minute they had the chance.

The complaints of the girls were interrupted, however, by the sound of the opening bus doors.

But the silence didn't come because of the sound of the doors, but because of a man…a young, beautiful man.

His short-sleeved camouflage uniform was neatly pressed, decorated with all kinds of colorful patches, and his coal black combat boots were so sparkling clean, one girl was blinded by its reflection of the sunlight. Underneath his uniform, though, anyone could see that this man was indeed built for combat. With his broad shoulders and muscular arms, all of the girls—especially Ana—would have betted their last dime that his body was nothing short of perfection.

A matching camo hat was pulled so far over his eyes, everyone could hardly see the upper part of his face, but from what the girls _could_ see: a chiseled chin, decorated with a small goatee and a pair of thick, but kissable lips, they could tell that he was quite a looker.

The girls didn't hesitate to swoon over the obviously sexy officer standing in front of them.

"Ooo…I just_ love_ a man in uniform," one girl mumbled under her breath.

The sounds of giggles and whispers enveloped the bus, but they were easily silenced once again…this time by a high-piercing whistle.

"Good afternoon, troops. I am your commanding officer, Lieutenant Christopher Brown of the US Army. I will only be called either Lieutenant Brown or Sir. Any other names will be grounds for immediate and extreme punishment. Now, I am assigned to this here platoon at Camp Goliath…"

A small cheer from the middle of the bus interrupted the man's welcome speech, and quickly, his eyes zoomed in straight towards the perpetrator.

It was the girl that Ana tried to fight off earlier.

"Miss…"

"Kirk. Asia Kirk, but you can call me AK-47 'cause I'm a weapon of mass destruction," she oh-so-proudly announced to the entire bus, gyrating her hips as if she were in a club, and then giving high-fives to her "amen corner."

Ana couldn't help but giggle like the rest of the bus. As much as she didn't like the bitch, she _was_ pretty funny.

"Well, Miss Kirk, thanks to you and your little home girls over there, the entire troop has been given the wonderful task of carrying all of your bags to the top of that hill where your barracks are, and changing into your uniforms."

From far away, that hill didn't look so big to the girls. They weren't too fazed by it, but when they learned that there was about half a mile between their barracks and the rest of camp _and _that they only had twenty minutes to complete the command, the girls started complaining again…but the blow of the lieutenant's whistle gave everyone a sudden burst of inspiration to move quicker.

Everyone—that is—except Ana. She was _not_ in the mood to run, and there was no way that some whistle-blowing Army tank was going to make her do any stupid commands.

So, she walked slowly towards the barracks, allowing the rest of her group to obediently charge on ahead of her.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

"Now, troops, when I say fall in, I want you to stand in _this_ formation. Got it?"

"Sir, yes, sir!" the troop submissively, but strongly responded.

All of the girls were placed in two straight lines of ten, neatly dressed in white tees, camo pants, and combat boots. All eyes were glued to the lieutenant.

"Now when I call role, I want each and every one of you to respond to me with a 'Here, Sir!' Do you understand?"

"Sir, yes, sir!"

"Stacy Adams?"

"Here, Sir," a curvy girl with dirty-blonde hair called, making sure she was noticed by the handsome officer.

He continued to call role, making sure that he remembered every name in his platoon. Things were running pretty smoothly, that was until he got to…

"Anastacia Flores?"

Silence.

He tried calling for her again.

"Anastacia Flores…"

_Damnit! Didn't I promise myself that I would never screw up again?!_

Before he could go into panic mode, a small figure was seen slowly walking along the graveled path from the barracks to the patch of grass, joining the rest of her troops, not even trying to slip in unnoticed. The disappointed and angry lieutenant approached the girl.

"Anastacia Flores?"

"I'm here..." she responded, with a despondent, but sarcastic tone.

The rest of the troop tried to hold back their instigating remarks.

"Miss Flores…are you aware that I gave you twenty minutes to carry out the previous command?"

"Yeah, so?"

"So how is it that the rest of your little bus buddies were able to get here on time?"

"Uh…they ran, and I didn't?" she said, continuing to allow every word of her mouth to drip with sarcasm.

The girls giggled.

"Well, Miss Flores…since you feel the need to be sarcastic today, why not share your sarcasm with the rest of your troop by participating in your first troop activity: a smoke session."

"Smoke session?"

"I feel like going for a run today… I think you'll all enjoy this. You will all run –not jog, not speed-walk—_run_ in your formation down _that_ path, from here to the mess hall," he instructed, pointing to a never-ending gravel road. "I will be running behind you. You will all run at a pace where _all_ of you can keep up. If I find at least _one _member out of line or falling behind, there will be many more smoke sessions to come. Now, let's go ladies!"

Groans emitted from the rest of the troop, and death stares were all directed towards Ana as they all got in line for their smoke session. It was definitely certain that she would not end up being the most popular girl in her troop.

"Welcome to Basic Training!"


	4. Chapter 4

At the end of that seemingly never-ending road, the mess hall was in plain sight. That small, wooden shack was far from a McDonald's or a Subway, but to those girls, the mess hall was just that.

"Oh praise Jesus!" one of the girls exclaimed in ecstasy.

It was dark outside and the last few seconds of dinnertime were hanging by a thread.

"I-I can't…" Asia wheezed, growing dizzy from the pace of the run. "M-my lungs a-are on fire!"

She started to fall behind, and the lieutenant started blowing his whistle once again….

"Uh-oh…looks like you'll be getting a surprise smoke session tomorrow…" he said, obviously amused.

Some of the girls already started crying, wanting so desperately to go home.

"Come on we're almost there," the officer half-coached.

Chris kind of felt sorry for the group, but then again…this reminded him so much of his old platoon back in Iraq during Basic Training. He wanted to show no mercy.

He looked over at that girl with the 'tude that caused her whole troop to suffer this mess. He chuckled to himself as he jogged past her. Even she was showing signs of struggle.

_Yep, they're already breakin' down…this is gonna be a piece of cake. I'll get back in the force in no time…_

img src "stories/1229/images/camouflage banner.jpg"

When they finally got to the mess hall, they had made it just in time…to get the doors closed in their faces.

"Aww, man…we're starving…"

"My blood sugar's low. I gotta eat…"

"I might have to get a lawyer up in here. This fool's starvin' us."

The girls' complaints were silenced by Lieutenant Brown's annoying high-pitched whistle.

"Silence, maggots! Parade rest!"

In pure fear, all of the girls shut their mouths and snapped to the assigned position.

"Now, because _**you**_ failed the mission, _**you**_ have failed to get something to eat…Normally, in the army, I would just let you starve…"

The troop groaned once again.

"But--", he interjected. "you ladies have tried your best to get here and for that, I commend you."

"Sir, that's all well and great, but some of us got medical problems, and we get real antsy when we don't eat," a brunette with cornrows piped up.

The girls quickly agreed.

Brown clenched his jaw, annoyed that he never got to finish his statement, and instantly it was quiet again.

Ana folded her arms, wondering how in the hell this man has so much power over these so-called "tough girls."

_Heh, _she thought. _These girls wouldn't know tough if it bit them on the ass. _

Just as Brown opened his mouth, though, he spotted Ana, distanced from the troop with a haughty smirk on her face. He had to admit—the girl was cute when she smirked like that. But as cute as that girl was, she needed a serious attitude adjustment.

And he knew exactly how to do it.

"Alright ladies, listen up. 'Little Miss Sunshine' over here finds something funny about this situation," he announced, walking over towards Ana and firmly gripping her shoulder with his hand.

Instantly, she shrugged his hand off.

The girls couldn't help but feel angry at her. After all, she _did_ get them into this whole situation by being late to formation.

"Well, I have just the idea that will get us out of this fix. Miss Flores, I am giving you an assignment. While the rest of your troop is resting in their barracks, you are to accompany me to get these girls some food. The nearest town is 3 miles away. And guess what? We're gonna jog there."

"Are you shittin' me?"

"Did I stutter, maggot?"

"Well guess what, Lieutenant Asshole? I'm not doin' it…"

"Oh really? Well, Miss Flores, since we're being all open and honest about ourselves and our feelings today, a little birdie told me that this is your _last_ chance. One more screw-up and you're in the slammer. Now am I correct?"

He knew he had her. She had no choice but to do as he said.

"Yeah? So?" she said, seemingly unfazed.

"So…that includes you not following my orders. In your situation, you should be so eager to finish this program, when I say jump you shouldn't even ask 'How High?' 'cause you'd already be there."

"Oooo…."

"Damn, he put her on blast…I would _not_ wanna be her right now."

Ana didn't know what to say. This asshole had basically just aired her dirty laundry in front of the entire troop, just to get her to follow his 'command'.

"Troop, attention! DISMISSED!"

_Oh this guy is good, but I'm better. I'll do what he says for now, but just you wait, Brown. I'm smarter than you think. _


End file.
